This invention relates generally to a machine for forming containers from a blank of sheet material, and more specifically to methods and a machine for forming a shelf-ready shipper display system from a blank of sheet material by wrapping the blank around a mandrel.
Containers fabricated from paperboard and/or corrugated paperboard material are often used to store and transport goods. Such containers are usually formed from blanks of sheet material that are folded along a plurality of preformed fold lines to form an erected corrugated container. At least some known blanks include a pair of end panels, a pair of side panels, a glue panel, a bottom panel, and, in some cases, a top panel, connected by a plurality of fold lines. The panels are rotated to form end walls, side walls, a bottom wall, and a top wall of the container. In addition, at least some known blanks include a reinforcement panel in series with the side and end panels. The reinforcement panel adds strength and/or other desirable properties to the container walls, and may provide a tab to facilitate removal of a top portion of the container from a display portion of the container at the retail location.
Moreover, at least some known containers are formed from a blank using a high-speed machine in an automated process. At least some known high-speed container-forming machines at least partially form the container by wrapping the blank about a mandrel. Such high-speed container-forming machines facilitate forming a container with increased strength and tighter manufacturing tolerances, and with attendant decreased waste of blank material. Such known high-speed container-forming machines, however, are not used to form a container from a blank with a reinforcement panel in series with the side and end panels, because of the challenge of accommodating the reinforcement panel.